585 research outputs found
Using the inertia of spacecraft during landing to penetrate regoliths of the Solar System
The high inertia, i.e. high mass and low speed, of a landing spacecraft has the potential to drive a penetrometer into the subsurface without the need for a dedicated deployment mechanism, e.g., during Huygens landing on Titan. Such a method could complement focused subsurface exploration missions, particularly in the low gravity environments of comets and asteroids, as it is conducive to conducting surveys and to the deployment of sensor networks. We make full-scale laboratory simulations of a landing spacecraft with a penetrometer attached to its base plate. The tip design is based on that used in terrestrial Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) with a large enough shaft diameter to house instruments for analysing pristine subsurface material. Penetrometer measurements are made in a variety of regolith analogue materials and target compaction states. For comparison a copy of the ACC-E penetrometer from the Huygens mission to Titan is used. A test rig at the Open University is used and is operated over a range of speeds from 0.9 to 3 m s−1 and under two gravitational accelerations.
The penetrometer was found to be sensitive to the target’s compaction state with a high degree of repeatability. The penetrometer measurements also produced unique pressure profile shapes for each material. Measurements in limestone powder produced an exponential increase in pressure with depth possibly due to increasing compaction with depth. Measurements in sand produced an almost linear increase in pressure with depth. Iron powder produced significantly higher pressures than sand presumably due to the rough surface of the grains increasing the grain-grain friction. Impacts into foamglas produced with both ACC-E and the large penetrometer produced an initial increase in pressure followed by a leveling off as expected in a consolidated material. Measurements in sand suggest that the pressure on the tip is not significantly dependent on speed over the range tested, which suggests bearing strength equations could be applied to impact penetrometry in sand-like regoliths.
In terms of performance we find the inertia of a landing spacecraft, with a mass of 100 kg, is adequate to penetrate regoliths expected on the surface of Solar System bodies. Limestone powder, an analogue for a dusty surface, offered very little resistance allowing full penetration of the target container. Both iron powder, representing a stronger coarse grained regolith, and foamglas, representing a consolidated comet crust, could be penetrated to similar depths of around two to three tip diameters. Speed tests suggest a linear dependence of penetration depth on impact speed
Anisotropy in granular media: classical elasticity and directed force chain network
A general approach is presented for understanding the stress response
function in anisotropic granular layers in two dimensions. The formalism
accommodates both classical anisotropic elasticity theory and linear theories
of anisotropic directed force chain networks. Perhaps surprisingly, two-peak
response functions can occur even for classical, anisotropic elastic materials,
such as triangular networks of springs with different stiffnesses. In such
cases, the peak widths grow linearly with the height of the layer, contrary to
the diffusive spreading found in `stress-only' hyperbolic models. In principle,
directed force chain networks can exhibit the two-peak, diffusively spreading
response function of hyperbolic models, but all models in a particular class
studied here are found to be in the elliptic regime.Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures (eps), submitted to PRE, figures amended,
partially to compare better to recent exp. wor
Measurement of three-jet differential cross sections d sigma-3jet / d M-3jet in p anti-p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
We present the first measurement of the inclusive three-jet differential
cross section as a function of the invariant mass of the three jets with the
largest transverse momenta in an event in p anti-p collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96
TeV. The measurement is made in different rapidity regions and for different
jet transverse momentum requirements and is based on a data set corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb^{-1} collected with the D0 detector at
the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The results are used to test the three-jet
matrix elements in perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading order in
the strong coupling constant. The data allow discrimination between
parametrizations of the parton distribution functions of the proton.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Lett. B, corrected
chi2 values for NNPD
Measurement of the Neutron Spin Structure Function with a Polarized ^3He Target
Results are reported from the HERMES experiment at HERA on a measurement of
the neutron spin structure function in deep inelastic scattering
using 27.5 GeV longitudinally polarized positrons incident on a polarized
He internal gas target. The data cover the kinematic range
and . The integral evaluated at a fixed of is . Assuming Regge behavior at low , the first
moment is .Comment: 4 pages TEX, text available at
http://www.krl.caltech.edu/preprints/OAP.htm
A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons
We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV
using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of
the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference
is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.
Measurement of the B0 Lifetime and Oscillation Frequency using B0->D*+l-v decays
The lifetime and oscillation frequency of the B0 meson has been measured
using B0->D*+l-v decays recorded on the Z0 peak with the OPAL detector at LEP.
The D*+ -> D0pi+ decays were reconstructed using an inclusive technique and the
production flavour of the B0 mesons was determined using a combination of tags
from the rest of the event. The results t_B0 = 1.541 +- 0.028 +- 0.023 ps, Dm_d
= 0.497 +- 0.024 +- 0.025 ps-1 were obtained, where in each case the first
error is statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.
First Measurement of Z/gamma* Production in Compton Scattering of Quasi-real Photons
We report the first observation of Z/gamma* production in Compton scattering
of quasi-real photons. This is a subprocess of the reaction e+e- to
e+e-Z/gamma*, where one of the final state electrons is undetected.
Approximately 55 pb-1 of data collected in the year 1997 at an e+e-
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP have been
analysed. The Z/gamma* from Compton scattering has been detected in the
hadronic decay channel. Within well defined kinematic bounds, we measure the
product of cross-section and Z/gamma* branching ratio to hadrons to be
(0.9+-0.3+-0.1) pb for events with a hadronic mass larger than 60 GeV,
dominated by (e)eZ production. In the hadronic mass region between 5 GeV and 60
GeV, dominated by (e)egamma* production, this product is found to be
(4.1+-1.6+-0.6) pb. Our results agree with the predictions of two Monte Carlo
event generators, grc4f and PYTHIA.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, submitted to Physics Letters
Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV
The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to
search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various
extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an
integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral
and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected
background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from
searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and
other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for
the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons
can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA >
72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and
soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for
minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM
parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European
Physical Journal
A Measurement of the Product Branching Ratio f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) in Z0 Decays
The product branching ratio, f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X), where
Lambda_b denotes any weakly-decaying b-baryon, has been measured using the OPAL
detector at LEP. Lambda_b are selected by the presence of energetic Lambda
particles in bottom events tagged by the presence of displaced secondary
vertices. A fit to the momenta of the Lambda particles separates signal from B
meson and fragmentation backgrounds. The measured product branching ratio is
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (2.67+-0.38(stat)+0.67-0.60(sys))%
Combined with a previous OPAL measurement, one obtains
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (3.50+-0.32(stat)+-0.35(sys))%.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figs included, submitted to the European
Physical Journal
WW Production Cross Section and W Branching Fractions in e+e- Collisions at 189 GeV
From a data sample of 183 pb^-1 recorded at a center-of-mass energy of roots
= 189 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP, 3068 W-pair candidate events are
selected. Assuming Standard Model W boson decay branching fractions, the W-pair
production cross section is measured to be sigmaWW = 16.30 +- 0.34(stat.) +-
0.18(syst.) pb. When combined with previous OPAL measurements, the W boson
branching fraction to hadrons is determined to be 68.32 +- 0.61(stat.) +-
0.28(syst.) % assuming lepton universality. These results are consistent with
Standard Model expectations.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.
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